Hey folks, Harry here… still in Rehab, maybe for another 2 weeks. Beginning to go a little stir crazy. The noise, interuptions, lack of sleep, substandard film watching ability… On the good side, the work is great. They’re kicking my ass – and I’ve come very far, very quickly, but I’ve still so much further to go. I miss home though. Yoko, the dog, my desk… Can’t wait to do the out-patient/Gym/AICN thing. There just seems like so much wasted time. I want to be busier, work harder… but I’m impatient. But hey… I had enough time to get through the column for all you good folks – so here it is. As usual, the images and links will take you to Amazon where you can purchase the item in question, or learn more about it. A small portion of that price goes to help keep this column coming. As you can imagine, it really does help – that’s why I’m taking the time to do it in here. That… and it keeps me sane. Love all ya! Here ya go…

When I got my portable Blu Ray player in Rehab, my first BluRay I put in was ALICE IN WONDERLAND… I love this film. It is my favorite version of the tale. It’s so vibrant and the colors and characters so perfectly designed and whimsical. As Disney does on all their classic animated films, the extras are great. It’s wonderful to see Kathryn Beaumont, the voice of Alice and the visual model for her, talking about the film. This was exactly the kind of joy one needs in my situation to keep myself young, amongst the very old. Highest possible recommendation!!!

o Through the Keyhole: A Companion's Guide to Wonderland - View the movie in this special mode and discover references to the original Lewis Carroll classic - introduced by the voice of Alice, Kathryn Beaumont.

o Disney View - Watch the movie in this expanded viewing experience with new Disney art in the wings of the screen o Painting the Roses Red game - Help paint the roses red in the Queen's garden. Careful, or someone could lose their head

When I first saw the film, I called it E.T. with Teeth, and I stand by it. This is a very different film from LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. In some ways, it is more disturbing, more visceral – and more… friendly. Chloe Moretz has so much pure charm – that what lies beneath is all the more horrifying. Kodi Smit-McPhee plays the shy, odd boy perfectly. He’s not a bad boy, just one that bullies target and that has trouble fitting in. His mother is an alcoholic going through a divorce and his whole world is upside down. It isn’t as deliberately paced as Let THE RIGHT ONE IN, but frankly… I see this as a great missing 80’s kids film. Yes, the horror is intense, but the kid that befriends the kid vampire is essentially safe. It is all realistically handled and I love the film. Love it.

It is a complete failure of the Academy Awards and their voting body, that NEVER LET ME GO was completely shut out of the Best Picture Top Ten. The performances, the emotion, the power of the story is so strong, so amazing, that this joins a long list of embarrassments for the Academy… that seems to need Box Office and forceful overpriced campaigns to even recognize a title. Mark Romanek’s NEVER LET ME GO is life affirming, powerfully viscerally honest. Being in Rehab and thinking about this film. Thinking about some of the scenes – and knowing some of these people around me… this is just a chance at some dignity before they fall completely into shadow… it’s this film that I think of, that reminds me how precious every moment we’re given on this planet is. Just 2 weeks ago, I thought I would die in the midst of a complicated 5 ½ hour through the chest operation – and I felt at piece. I had some regrets, “I want more life, fucker” did cross my mind… but mostly I just felt good about my life. Felt strong about what it was I was doing and had done. Mainly I was concerned for my family and wife. But I felt it wasn’t over – and luckily the whole thing became a miracle. Films like this are important films. So much more than a good 6 of the other Best Picture nominees. This film was never pushed at you strongly, other than by a few writers here and there – now that it is coming home, do not pass

The Giant Monster movie that Terrence Malick would’ve made. Low budget to an extreme… and now he’s directing a giant GODZILLA movie and the mind boggles. Easily the most unique giant monster movie I’ve ever seen. And that is an exceptionally awesome thing.

One of the most awesomely bitchy comedies ever made – it owns a ton of Oscar gold – and is one of the greatest performances in Bette Davis’ amazing career. This Blu Ray is filled with extras – which any fan of the film will love. In particular, I love the Vintage features on there. They make me smile! Here ya go:

Almost immediately banned from theaters for reasons beyond my wildest notion. HATCHET II is not pornographic, it is bloody as hell, but never in a serious manner. The gore is never particularly realistic – and in no way the sort of thing that could possibly be emulated by any impressionable mentally disabled swampbilly vengeful ghost spirits that may watch the film. This is haunted house horror, but in a swamp – and it is blissfully silly – and relentlessly fun. The humorless fucks that gave it an NC-17… and then the prickish theater owners that pulled it from their theaters are… I don’t even know. It just all seemed utterly absurd. NOW – nobody can get between you and your Victor Crowley. You get commentaries from the behind the camera crew as well as one with Green and Tony Todd and Kane Hodder. There’s also a behind the scenes feature. If you love practical gore – you’ll have a blast with this – and besides – you must see the most ridiculous chainsaw in film history.

A great film. Absolutely great. A film about the illusion of perfection, and how that is just an illusion after all. How the ideals of the past are exactly that – the ideals of the past. That wishing for them, and trying to roll back to them, well, it is impossible. Personally, I love the film. The movie is a perfect visual effects premise – and it is stunning. The contrast between Black & White and the stunning Color – and the photography, costumes design – and just the way it all works is just… amazing. The film is naughty, innocent and an absolute delight. It is my favorite work of Gary Ross’. It is a film that I want everyone to know as well as I know it. It is hard to believe this was 13 years ago – the film plays timelessly…

I’m a sucker for the Nora Ephron Romantic Comedies… especially if they have Meg Ryan in them. I don’t know what it is about her. Maybe it is the way her eyes sparkle, or the way her cheeks get big with that silly wistful smile of hers. She just seems like she’d be a helluva nice woman to know. To spend time with . And Tom Hanks, he’s that kinda guy. I’ve met – and gotten to spend a bit time with him, and he’s as awesome a fella as he always seems – so instantly, I want these two to be together. Their chemistry just works. Never mind how much I loathe the actual “cinematic portrayal of EMAIL” which drives me insane. Or how much I prefer Ernst Lubitsch’s original THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. But this is a sweet enough film, and it happens to be one of the movies that Yoko loves. Actually, I’ve known a lot of ladies that love YOU’VE GOT MAIL – and I am on record as having enjoyed this from the date of release forward.

Now here’s a remake that I vastly prefer to the original, and that’s just because… well nobody is quite as awesome as Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. I love this film. This is one of those movies I saw as a kid and it helped define romanticism to me. It inspired a romantic series of dates that I had once in the late 90’s – where I met a girl in a video store, and neither of us had pens to write our numbers down, so we made a date at a location, and if we both meant it, we’d be there. We were there. She was a wonderful girl. We then made the next date, I was having to do some traveling for the site, but it was going to be two weeks - again, we both showed. Then she had to go to visit her grandparents up North in St Louis… I knew that DOCTOR ZHIVAGO was playing at the Paramount Theater in Austin, and I told her that I would attend all 3 showings of it, 3 days in a row – and if she came, we’d exchange numbers and continue. She didn’t show – and I never found out what happened to her. It also killed just a hair of my romanticism. And from that point forward – I always secured the phone numbers. But that was all because of this wonderful silly movie, and those few dates we had were incredibly passion filled, no nets… no excuses… and when we hooked up, it was great. I know this has little to do with AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, but my attitude was totally because of this film, and most definitely not the Boyer or Beatty versions. But any movie that inspires romance is a wonderful film. This BluRay is loaded with extras, as it deserves:

Ok – here’s an early fifties film noir starring a pair of my fave underappreciated actors… Van Heflin and Evelyn Keyes. But what makes this movie great, is the words and the story behind it and that was crafted by the future Blacklisted brilliant writer Dalton Trumbo. I saw this on 16mm years and years ago – it’s a legitimate GREAT film – just greatly unknown by most. This is one of those black & white movies that’s so great, that you will find yourself completely enthralled by every scene of the film. It is positively claustrophobic & tense. If you’re a film noir junkie – and every good film geek should explore the genre deeply, this is one that in all likelihood, well… it’s avoided your gaze till now. It’s the first time on Home Video. And they’ve done a really great job on this DVD.

Documentary featurette "The Cost of Living: Creating The Prowler," with James Ellroy, Christopher Trumbo, Denise Hamilton and Alan K. Rode,

"Masterpiece in the Margins": Bertrand Tavernier on The Prowler,

On the Prowl: Restoring The Prowler.

The Film Noir Foundation and UCLA Film & Television Archive Partnership,

You know – I look at a film like HALL PASS, and then I think about “10” – I mean, in the real world – do people really get Free Pass to go have affairs – or is it, dangerous like in “10”. Blake Edwards’ film created a terminology for babes… and Bo Derek for a time in the Seventies defined a Perfect 10. Once you’ve seen this film, Bolero – becomes 20 times more sensual than you’ve ever known before – and the thing that’s great about Dudley Moore is he’s kind of the “every” man kind of guy. He’s not a crazy handsome stud, but he’s just a lucky schmuck. For him to go after Bo – it could ruin his life, but when the opportunity arises… how could he possibly pass it up… but there’s always something going wrong, usually caused by his own nerves. The film is funny, seriously sexy & erotic… and it really makes you wish you were Dudley Moore. And yeah, BluRay? It was made to capture the laidback fuckability of Bo Derek… although 70mm 3D would be even better, but that shit will never exist.

For $18, you get 4 of the absolute best swashbuckling romantic adventure films of all time. ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD is tied with KING KONG as my personal favorite film of all time. In fact today, where I’ve felt a little on the flat side here in this hospital, I asked Yoko to bring me my BluRay of THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD – because it reboots me. The film is a life philosophy bottled into a children’s fairy tale. The score makes me soar, the action is thrilling, the costume design is perfection, the costumes are not the drab period ware of the day, but the dream of what it was, the classic Hollywood cinematic wow that the period was best known for. Reality and historical accuracy are overrated when dealing with fantasy – and Robin Hood is Childhood Fantasy at its best. The other three films are all wonderful. CAPTAIN BLOOD and THE SEA HAWK are still the best two pirate movies ever made, followed closely by BLACK SWAN (not the new one, silly wabbit) – and THE ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN – it shows Flynn as an older man, who can still swash and unbuckle. Flynn is just a man that defined action & romance. Nobody has ever done it better – and this is a great, cheap way to really get hooked and spoiled by Flynn!

History has distorted what the BLACK PANTHER movement was about in a very core way. Back in the 1960’s – my father attended a screening of KING KONG (1933) that Huey Newton and the Black Panthers sponsored as a metaphor for the Black Slave experience. But more so, it was originally about protecting Black neighborhoods from a period of extreme racism and prejudice that was very real in that time within the law enforcement community. It’s all nice to look back at it today and call it “terrorism” all you want, but until you really realize just how fucked up things were during that period of social change, and seeing that happen to the people you love and live with – I’m not really sure how anyone can blame them. This is a great film that is set within the Black Panther world in 1976. Anthony Mackie is incredible in the lead role. The story will grip you and challenge the way you think of that place and time. Rightfully so. The world has changed, but we’re still so far from perfect. Really great film that deserves to be seen.

There’s a romance to Rum Running… and in this particularly bizarre musical, comedy, sex & violence flick from STANLEY DONEN that happens to star Gene Hackman… Liza Minnelli… and BURT FUCKING REYNOLDS! Well… who is better than Burt Reynolds at moving alcohol where it doesn’t belong? Maybe Robert Mitchum, but nobody does it with half the style of Burt. Now this is a Prohibition era tale – and the film is very much – one of those – bizarre awesome mix-genre jewels that lots of people dismissed out right because they didn’t know whether to laugh or be in shock. God forbid a movie surprise you and allow you to discover a myriad of weird and awesome scenes. LUCKY LADY is one of those 70’s oddballs that was actually just crazy ahead of its time. Donen wanted to throw in sex and the violence of the era, while still preserving the awesome fun of the era.

Everybody saw Sean Penn in FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH – but those lucky and adventurous filmmakers of the early 80’s also saw that stoner turn into an incredibly awesome actor – that you would absolutely take seriously… in this, BAD BOYS. Don’t expect any Bay-isms. Instead, be prepared… actually, you probably won’t be prepared, this is raw genius Sean Penn firing on all cylinders. He’s AMAZING in this film. If you feel like watching the birth of a really great actor – watch BAD BOYS and discover an amazng Penn performance – in this prison flick that also has the great Clancy Brown!

This is fucking awesome. Right off the bat, I’m not a big fan of Charles Grodin. He destroyed the KING KONG remake for me… Though I did like him opposite Muppets. But this – this is my favorite Charles Grodin film… hands down. This is a story about stealing $12 Billion Dollars in Uncut Diamonds. The cast is, kind of amazing. You have Trevor Howard as this arrogant fucking prick of a rich man, John Gielgud as a real prick in charge of this giant diamond holding fortress, that nobody knows about. Then there’s James Mason… who just flat out rules. Then you have Charles Grodin as this diamond smuggler, who is hired by Trevor Howard to steal $12 Billion in Diamonds. Oh – and Grodin’s girlfriend, who is rich and crazy damn awesome is Candice Bergen. That the plan requires the use of a cockroach is AMAZING – and thus requires everyone to see how you steal $12 Billion dollars in Diamonds – cuz… seriously, that’s useful information. Now, it is on NetFlix instant, but ya know… Give it a look – personally, I am real glad I own it, because well, after it drops from the Instant world… how else will ya see it?

It’s a bunch of the best Belushi moments on SNL. I’ve watched it all about twice here. Belushi was my hero as a kid, I was always pudgy and I loved how John moved. He was a large man that could move gracefully, he could seemingly do anything – and he was effortlessly hilarious. Pulling laughs from the ether. I once spent a weekend in the room he died in off of Sunset. It was one of the creepiest weekends of my life. The pipes made noise – and I didn’t request the room, but when I was taken to my room, the man told me, “This was the place Belushi died.” - Way to fuck with my head. Here though, you just see the early genius of Belushi. My fave was his pre-Blues Brothers – Blues Mozart – which just owned. That, and his Brando / GODFATHER. Just wow. So many more. So good.

This makes me so happy to get my dose of victor crawley. I never seen the film early or in theaters due to it being pulled. But This horror franchise is fun and I always have a blast watching adam greens work! Pleasant ville I remember seeing in the theaters and was fucking blown away! I was really affected by it.

As much as I want to like Pleasantville, I disagree with its message. The characters in the town had perfect lives. Plus, they were happy because perfect lives were the only options. Why give that up? Because some kids said they were boring? Yeah, I know the characters found freedom to make mistakes or whatever. But look at all the pain it caused.

Will definitely be picking up Let Me In and Never Let Me Go. LMI was even one of my favorite movies of last year, I preferred it to the original which can be blasphemous around these parts but whatever, it's a great movie.

Scared the shit out of me when I was a kid.
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This movie made me not ever do anything stupid that would've put me in St Charles Juvenile facility (Where most of the movie was filmed).
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Fearing that Clancy Brown would have been lurking in the cafeteria waiting to plant a booger on my peas!

-but over the years, I just never found it as enjoyable as some people have. There was one interview in 'The Art of Animation' where later on, Walt said he didn't really want to make 'Alice,' but a number of people said he should. In the interview, he said it was pretty much the same scenario, of her running into one idiot after another.
Though 'Alice' has always been one of those 'filler' titles for Disney, like 'Robin Hood' and 'Sword in the Stone': what they've released in-between 'the big guns' of their Vault's collection.
Personally, I was hoping to have 'Dumbo' by now. I haven't seen that film in years, and definitely want the 'Fab Five' of Disney's animated film legacy (Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, and Dumbo) on Blu-Ray asap.

But could you please take on a copy editor? I know you're going for the raw, stream of conciousness thing, but the frequent grammatical problems make for difficult reading in an otherwise enjoyable feature.

heard so many good things about this but when I finally saw it it just fell flat. I find all the stories about how it was made on a low budget/small scale more interesting than the movie itself. In the end it felt like more of an excercise than a film.

was indeed an incredibly tragic and emotionally powerful film. It's a shame something like the Fighter (A decent film with strong performances) gets nominated when movies like Animal Kingdom and Never Let Me Go have so much more to offer to film. A sham indeed. Shame on you, Academy.

I just read the DVD reviews. I don't read his personal stuff, so I didn't know he went under the knife. I'm sorry for his situation and hope he recovers swiftly.
But the grammar has been a problem for years. Nothing wrong with suggesting a copy editor.

That movie was better than Scared Straight at scaring the crap out of me as a 10 year old when I saw it the first time on HBO in the 80's.... Just brutal as hell and ultra realistic IMO. Clancy Brown is great, Penn is great.... the hispanic actor who *SPOILER** rapes Penn's girlfriend so he can get locked up to get even .... it's a movie I always forget about when thinking of great films of the 80's and iMO, it was influential and important for me!

It was supposed to last year but then got cancelled, It's planned to come out this year though
I'll be getting alice this week, I've always though it's one of the underaprechiated disney films, Like Fox and the hound or Aristocats

It really doesn't hold up very well. Especially Belushi and Chevy Chase. Dan Akroyd and Bill Murray did some good work but Samauri Hotel Clerk does not hold up at all.
Everything Phil Hartman did 20 years ago is still funny and will be funny 20 years from now.

The monsters don't seem very threatening. Unless you cross paths with them, they could careless about you. They come off more like a wild animal - if you leave it alone, they will leave you alone.
It's a Netflix rent.

The three P's of left wing nonsense pushed by Harry in this column.
Seriously, Pleasantville is a Baby Boomer hippie fantasy about how liberating it was to flush society's higher aspirations (restraint, self reliance, a moral code) down the toilet.
Yeah, that's working out well.

Almost Famous
Heavy Metal
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Leaving Las Vegas
The Cove
Hotel Rwanda
The Rules of Attraction
Out of Sight
Dead Man Walking
The Thomas Crown Affair (unspecified version)
Poltergeist 2
The Last House on the Left (1972)
Robocop 2
Robocop 3
Still Waiting
Hannibal
The Long Kiss Goodnight
The Killing Machine
www.bestbuy.com/movieexclusives

Oh, no, it's not just liberals that should be guilty. Cons too. And damn right they should all be ashamed.
The clip for Family Guy sums it up perfectly, where the white lord releases the slaves because slavery's just been made illegal, then says "...but we're cool right?" and shrugs his shoulders. Family Guy's kinda shite but they hit the nail on head right there.

Cronnenberg pseudo porn, James Spader sodimizing some guy, graphic amputee sex, a guy taking a chick from behind while she talks about some other guy's asshole. What's not to like? Wait...am I thinking of the right movie? It didn't eleviate any of my white guilt.

Back in the early days of cable TV and various movie channels of the era, I devoured many films over and over, and "Bad Boys" was one of them. It was tough, dark and violent with dramatic weight and intense, sudden action. I always placed it in the same echelon with "The Warriors" and "Escape From New York". My friends and I also enjoyed the exploitive "Penitentiary" flicks. Penn gives a great juvenile delinquent performance with just the right amount of alienated toughness and guarded vunerability.

were sexually and socially repressive. And they were. You don't need to be a hippie to realize how repressive it was. It wasn't just sex either. All forms of expression were censored. You right wingers want to believe it was some perfect Utopia but it was closer to Saudi Arabia or Iran where expression is strictly censored, porn is hardly existant, and women are subservient. The 1950's had the pretext of perfection but it was all an illusion where people couldn't do what they really wanted and weren't really free.
Admit it. The 1950's were not only boring they were repressive socially, politically, and sexually. It was a type of prison, not an ideal Utopia.

The UK got Dumbo already? UK seems to be a much better country when it comes to some releases. They seem to also get Studio Ghibli's releases before the US (at least, that was the case with Mononoke Hiime).
Almost Famous- the Bootleg Cut is almost the same as the release back in 2001, except for the following differences:
- no theatrical cut
- no CD including Stillwater's music
- no subtitles on the awesome commentary
Someone on imdb said they bought the Blu-Ray as a backup due to their regular DVD of 'Untitled' having grown a bit worn. I'll still keep that original set for nostalgia (and with the hope that Crowe or any other members of the film may sign that one day).

it's right up there with the Exorcist in The Choppah's opinion. And Chop's is not alone. Many others, including most critics agree on its excellence. Not so with the remake which was largely critically panned and happily rejected by American audiences. If you haven't seen either this a no brainer. If you only saw the remake you owe it to yourself to watch the far superior original.

Amen, Choppah. "Let The Right One In" is exhilarating.
You sit through so many piece-of-shit horror movies to finally come across a real work of art like this one.
One of the creepiest endings to any movie ever made. God, I love that movie to death.

I'm not sure why you've decided to make it seem folks who disagree with Pleasantville's message support the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia or African Americans in the 1950s. I certainly don't.
Maybe I've misinterpreted Pleasantville. But to me, the films argues that self-control should be avoided in favor of doing whatever feels good. I'm against 'being fake.' But self-control, in many cases, is necessary.
I've seen so many families hurt because a parent decided to make a decision similar to Betty Parker's (Joan Allen). But according to the film, Betty was right in her actions, and her husband and children should just get over it.

First things first, 11 HARROWHOUSE is an OUTSTANDING movie (all of Aram Avakian movies are but they're kind of hard to find - seek them out if you can).
Second, Harry, can you tell me if this version has the Grodin voiceover? There are some versions out there that don't and it really kills the movie.
Also, glad to see that you are recovering well!

1) It seriously pisses off certain people, and that is awesome. I have never met anyone upset by this film that didn't seriously need to be pissed off.
2) I caught a showing of it on cable (TBS or TNT or something) and they blurred out the nudity of the *painting* of Joan Allen. That was maybe the most perfect thing that has ever happened in television censorship, and to this day I wonder how aware the censor who made that decision was about what they were doing.

i was just thinking out loud on my keyboard about remakes in general. i fall into the "hate the new one and adore the old" camp most of the time. i was just humoring the opposite view point
and i did like the original a helluva lot. except the cats. the hospital combustion scene made up for that though in like 100 fold

But, I have friends whose opinions I trust who saw it and said it was crap.
I don't see why I need to watch a remake. I rarely watch most films more than once. Let the Right One In was one of those exceptions.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not against remakes when the original can be improved upon or if it is a re-imagining. But some movies just don't need to be remade, like Exorcist, especially recent movies like LTROI. Americans need to learn how to read subtitles and Hollywood needs some originality instead of these lazy remakes they gear toward the teen demographic.

in a perfect world everyone would see great movies regardless of subtitles or nation of origin. but since we don't i would rather us americans make an acceptable version of a great film for the masses to see then for them not to see it at all. at the very least it will peak their interests more into seeing the original
like the The Ring for example. that movie scared the bejesus outta me, and there was no shot that i was gonna see the japanese original when i was 15 so im thrilled we remade that movie.

Feb. 1, 2011, 3:27 p.m. CST

by originalmemflix

Harry wrote: "The Giant Monster movie that Terrence Malick would’ve made. Low budget to an extreme… and now he’s directing a giant GODZILLA movie and the mind boggles."
I went to IMDB to find out if I somehow missed that Malick was directing a Godzilla movie.

I haven't seen True Grit yet, but if the Coens went back to the novel and did their own take on the book I don't have a problem with it. That movie came out over 40 years ago. What I do have a problem with is remakes of movies that were not from novels and were great films and not in need of remaking. I also have an issue with remaking movies that just came out like Let the Right One In and Girl With the Dragon Tattoo where the only reason they're being remade is to appeal to an American audience that won't watch movies with subtitles. And don't tell me that these kinds of people don't exist. They do.
Let The Right One In is particularly grievous because it was an excellent movie, which is rare and an excellent horror film which is rarer still. And from what I've heard the director of Let Me In did not go to the book and start from scratch but lifted scenes whole cloth from the Swedish film and then MTVified it to appeal to the teenage demographic. No thanks, dude. It may be an ok movie if you were to remove it from a world where the original exists, but you can't so I have no interest.
And I highly recommend that those who have not seen either film see the original first so that you can have the experience of discovering an excellent and magical film experience.

...and some of you are getting the message wrong. The main message is basically "Don't get stuck in a rut, doing the same, easy things day in and out, just because anything else could be uncomfortable." You have to take risks and do things that might make you and other people uncomfortable, to progress in life. Otherwise you are just limiting yourself. You may not see that you are being limited, you may think you have the perfect life, but if you don't take risks, you'll never know what possibilities could await you.

...and some of you are getting the message wrong. The main message is basically "Don't get stuck in a rut, doing the same, easy things day in and out, just because anything else could be uncomfortable." You have to take risks and do things that might make you and other people uncomfortable, to progress in life. Otherwise you are just limiting yourself. You may not see that you are being limited, you may think you have the perfect life, but if you don't take risks, you'll never know what possibilities could await you.

I guess a 89% on Rotten Tomatos for critics and a 77% for audiences doesn't count?
Can't you let someone have their opinions? I saw Let the Right One In when it was first released here in the States and I didn't think that much of it, but I found the remake to be better in every single way. It was one of my top 2 movies of the year. Sometimes remakes can have their values.
It's fine if someone doesn't want to see it because they love the original, cool. But to say that everyone should boycott an amazing movie just because you don't think it should be made is plain dumb.

It made virtually no use of Parkinson's Cam (odd, coming from the director of Cloverfield), and it had the same slow, deliberate pacing of the original film. The addition of CGI to ther attck scenes is noticable and distracting, but no moreso than the LAUGHABLE CGI kitty scene in the first one. There are even scenes which are staged much more viscerally (like the car crash shown from INSIDE THE FREAKING CAR). Both films are excellent.

Sunlight through the trees, everything calm with a swooping musical score all hypnotic then- Skreeeeeeyooonnnkk!!!! Birds fluttering from the trees. We see a Godzilla caring for baby godzookie by regurgitating a few cows into his mouth along with a whale and some power transformers and buckets of nuclear waste.

It was just more self-indulgent slow-burn that was proud of itself for "flipping the genre on it's ear" I'd rather watch Cloverfield again and that sucked. However for a good slow film Never Let Me Go is quite moving and makes you think.

Harry, you are dead wrong about this. However, it is an opinion. But in my opinion, I was bored during this film. I knew what was going to happen at every turn. Although they claim it wasn't a "remake", it was scene for scene. And just not as well done. I LOVE the original film, I mean love it! Let Me In falls way short!

Harry, you are dead wrong about this. However, it is an opinion. But in my opinion, I was bored during this film. I knew what was going to happen at every turn. Although they claim it wasn't a "remake", it was scene for scene. And just not as well done. I LOVE the original film, I mean love it! Let Me In falls way short!

and thought it was really good. Mackie was awesome in the film, as was Washington. The film makes you "think". How hard was it to be black in America in the 60's....pretty hard. This wasn't a great film, but a very good one. I give it 7 out of 10.

"Why give that up? Because some kids said they were boring? Yeah, I know the characters found freedom to make mistakes or whatever. But look at all the pain it caused."
Yeah, that's what happens when you have free will. That was the whole point. You get the good, but you also have the bad. But in the end, its worth it.

Plus, he's a notorious sex tourist in Latin America. Why do you think he's so buddy-buddy with Chavez and all those extreme lefty despots down there? They have the connect on the best blow and underage whores this side of Macau.
Next time I see Sean Penn I'm going to punch him so hard his "Bad Boys" self is gonna feel it.

"But could you please take on a copy editor? I know you're going for the raw, stream of conciousness thing, but the frequent grammatical problems make for difficult reading in an otherwise enjoyable feature."
Its also making the rest of us stupider because we end up reading his mangled grammar and become more tolerant of it. The more tolerant we become and the more we surround ourselves with it, the less we remember how to use it correctly.

"Really... The guy just had spinal surgery. Maybe you can give him a fucking break on the grammar."
I'd give him a break if his grammar was better before the surgery. But since it never has been, what's your excuse now?

Can be summed up with one other foreign movie title from the last decade: "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon".
That movie showed that audiences WILL go to see a foreign film with subtitles IF you give it the right push. My biggest problem with current remakes of foreign flicks is that the studios would probably end up saving money if they just devoted some time to an ad campaign to raise awareness for these critically acclaimed movies that happen to come from a country that doesn't speak English.
But they don't They never do. And then they blame the people and say "Well, no one went and saw that movie! So we must make an American version for *them*!"
Bullshit. Crouching Tiger.

And don't forget Pan's Labyrinth, which earned a healthy $37 mil domestically from word of mouth alone (it certainly didn't have marketing).
If the movie deserves to be remade (because the first one sucked or you've got a new take on it), then by all means remake it... but Let Me In did nothing to distinguish itself from the vastly superior original.

ya theyre there but almost as a backdrop with a couple exceptions which is what the director intended to showcase the aftermath of an invasion and concentrate on our two protagonists "and save money I imagine". The monsters themselves are squid-like and will remind you of virtually every invasion films of the last decade. I think the movie is getting too much credit but thats me.

SO disappointed in this film. I know its low budget and I think the special effects were ok, but OMFG this movie was boorringg!
What did the people at Legendary see in this film that made them think this is was gonna be their guy to reboot Godzilla? I'm really fucking worried.
I hope, with a big budget, Edwards can make something spectacular, as well as write an entertaining script.
"Godzilla" should NOT be approached the same way, as "Monsters". We need to see the creature and lots of destruction. In other words, fucking EPIC!

You missed the whole point. It's not a rebellion against the 1950s, it's a rebellion against unreal societal norms that NEVER existed outside of TV shows. Do you think married couples slept in separate beds in real life?
Blame the liberals in Hollywood for creating the dystopia of 50s programming.

'gboybama' (WTF?) and 'bobparr' don't get it. about par for 'bob', no doubt. FRANKENBERRY kinda gets it, but even too much self-control is a bad thing. if interested, i've got lot's more bs here, just search for THE SLEEPER HAS AWOKEN first, if you want more, search my name. or, go to SUICIDEGIRLS.COM (where i'm going next), look for frank_cotton, or covering all my bases, goto OBSESSEDARTIST.COM, search for nil. all nice and tidy in one spot at those two places. NERDRAGE does get it. if you want to get it, and are willing to think hard enough to try to get it, go for it! what else ya got to do, anyways, right?

The conservatives see it (for the most part) as the ideal that everyone strives to achieve being stripped down by some for the ability for all to choose to make mistakes.
<p>
The liberals see it (for the most part) as prisoners being set free from a monotanous life of boring safety.
<p>
I think that is what is good about the movie, is that so many people can see different things within it. Both sides have good points: Toby and Reese are pretty selfish and egotistical to think that they can make the place better by essentially destroying what made Pleasantville "Pleasantville". At the same time, the whole point to evolution is change, and you can't do that in prison or in Eden (despite the fact that Eden is what everyone strives to recreate, despite the fact that once people achieve a great level of comfort, they almost seek out to destroy it for no other reason than out of the boredom safety provides.. then again, try to convince someone in the 3rd world that America's "boring safety" is something to abhor).
<p>
What I find perplexing from the libs is that their mission politically is essentially to do what Pleasantville achieved, but was destroyed/freed by tearing down the social(ist) policies that made the place what it was. What if instead of Pleasantville it was Hippyville, and the message was "you don't need to make yourself a whore to sex and drugs to free your mind"? Would those who made their points above be saying the polar opposite, based upon whose ideals were being destroyed in the name of freedom?

i think the point of it was to not only show you the two opposite extremes, for the purpose of allowing you to figure out for yourself that both extremes are wrong, bad, or whatever, but also to show you that there are nevertheless good things to be gained from both points of view. what you do with this knowledge is, of course, up to you, but i believe it meant to imply that there is a third way, call it moderate if you will, available, and to point you towards it, altho maybe, too subtly?

I suppose you could have a movie where a city that used too much sex and drugs was blurred and when people used it in moderations the city became clearer. I'd support the message of moderation but not complete absitnence and narrow-minded sobriety. Not sure why you would expect people who liked Pleasantville to embrace a movie with a polar opposite message. And I disagree with your summary of what conservatives took from the movie. Based on this talkback most of them outright rejected it because it endorsed progressive values over traditional values.

Yes I thought it was decent..and enjoyed the overall look of the film(and the whole sci-fi aspect in the past)...but it really was just..flat. It could've explored the notion of clones having souls MORE...instead it just felt flat at the end (to me.)And I appreciate Romanek , he seems to be getting closer to making his one great film...But Brother, this aint it.

I think I read in somewhere, maybe the Skywalking biography on Lucas, that Fox wanted him to direct Lucky Lady but he passed so he could continue developing Star Wars. If that's indeed true think about that for a minute: a major studio offers you the chance to direct a major motion picture. But you're so involved in a little a film you're working on that you decide to pass on the easy money- and possible B.O. success(although we know Lucky Lady bombed).

To be honest, I haven't finished watching the entire cut, but I'm pretty sure it's exactly the same as the "untitled" version. There is minimal packaging, with not even a title card inside. I think this is what Best Buy is doing with all their "exclusives". To be quite honest, I would rather pay a little for just the movie, than a lot for a bunch of crap I'll read once and then put away forever.
I could be wrong, but there is a "making of" video, that I'm not sure was a part of the "Untitled" DVD release (at least, I don't remember finding it on my copy and I'm to lazy to look right now!). The menu system on the original "Untitled" was complex and meant to be explored (according to Cameron on the audio track).
There is no theatrical version on the disc. I'm not sure if I would call this double dipping, since most people wouldn't go out of their way to buy a future version that included it (reverse dip?). I still wish that Zeppelin would let them use "Stairway" so that they could put the famous "cut" scene back in the movie (it's on YouTube for all those curious). Thanks for the reply Harry!

Close but you got it wrong - it was SPIELBERG who almost directed LUCKY LADY. He swapped one troubled-movie-on-the-water for another...a small forgotten film called JAWS. Obviously the right choice. But LL has been unfairly maligned for decades, it's actually a fun little romp ala THE STING. It's not perfect, but it's a good time. I loved it at age 12. But not quite as much as the Spielberg indie that shot pure adrenaline into my eyeballs.

I may be a little late to your discussion but I have a few things to add, so here we go...
First off, I'll give you that the Swedish Dragon Tattoo was an amazing movie and worth viewing. That said, I have been told by people who read the book that it didn't follow too closely, so a remake could go your True Grit route. Plus, it directed by David Fincher, who has given film audiences little reason to not trust his judgment.
Second, as for Let the Right One In/Let Me In, while I do share your love of the original, the American version is still very well done, thanks in no small part to Matt Reeves and Chloe Moretz. It's worth a viewing.
Finally, as to your remarks that remaking a foreign film for American audiences so they don't have to read is pointless, I offer these examples of that very notion and will let you be the judge:
A Fistful of Dollars (remake of Kurosawa's Yojimbo)
The Magnificent Seven (Kurosawa's Seven Samurai)
Star Wars (loose remake of Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress)
Three classic examples of American cinema that have not only stood the test of time, but in many cases outlasted the popularity of the originals with all but true film buff audiences. Yes, they are old examples, but they are each proof that remakes CAN have something to say that the outstanding originals didn't. Don't always be so quick to judge just because the word remake has become a stigma of sorts in Hollywood. (a fourth, more fringe example, as Harry mentioned above, would be the girls that have a love despite all logic for You've Got Mail, a remake of Lubitsch's The Shop Around The Corner, though that original was in English also)
Food for thought...

The last chunk of "You've Got Mail" never worked for me....I don't care how nice a guy Tom Hanks is...he destroyed Meg Ryan's beloved bookstore and put her and the whole lovable supporting cast out of work. And she's gonna fall in love with him? "It's not personal...it's business", the film's mantra, is an idiotic line that only a privileged, wealthy hollywood writer-director could come up with (right up there with "Love means never having to say you're sorry')...so here's breaking news to Nora Ephron, who never had her life's work taken away from her by corporate slime...no, sweetie, it's NOT business...for the victims, it's goddamned personal.
Speaking of third acts, always loved the way that the Korngold score for "Adventures Of Don Juan" pretty much plays non-stop through the last 15 minutes of "The Goonies"
And I fully agree..."Let Me In"...one of the best films I saw last year...Chloe Moretz is most likely on her way to an eclectic, but critically celebrated Jodie Foster type of career. Now, if she could just do a movie more than three or four people go to see. I'm rooting for her to win that coveted role in "Hunger Games" but she'll probably lose it to Hailee Steinfeld, who's much higher up on the industry radar.....

I think you're misplacing your rage and confusing me with someone else. The only mention I made of True Grit was in response to Choppah saying that a True Grit remake was okay as it adhered closer to the book. And I only brought it up as an example of how Dragon Tattoo could be an okay remake, as I've been told that the Swedish version, although good, didn't stick as closely to the book as some would have liked. I never made any statements about True Grit myself as I have not yet had an opportunity to see the remake. So, please, direct that anger elsewhere as I said nothing in my posts that has anything to do with what you're bitching about.

"What if instead of Pleasantville it was Hippyville, and the message was "you don't need to make yourself a whore to sex and drugs to free your mind"?"
That was, in fact, the point for Reese Witherspoon's character, who complained that even though she introduced sex to that world and had more of it than anybody there, she hadn't made the jump to color. She achieves her breakthrough by going the completely opposite direction, staying in to read rather than going out for sex with the boys, becoming buttoned-down and studious. "I've done the slut thing... it got old." In the end she stays behind in the still more-conservative television world.
The point of it all is about embracing new ideas of what you could be and considering possibilities that you hadn't before. Most people across all political persuasions have no problem with that idea.

Harry, are you kidding?
You don't like Charles Grodin?
Have you seen The Heartbreak Kid?
It's a classic, and he's incredible in it... I'm going to assume you haven't seen it, because jesus, if you have and you didn't like it... A pox on you!
(get well, buddy!)

This is a strange interpretation of liberal policies. Liberals are the ones who have supported personal freedom from day one. It was liberals who invoked the right of habeas corpus, stating that the government does not have the right to take away our personal liberty without due process. It was liberals who argue that people should be allowed to marry whomever they love, and that its none of the governments goddamn business. <p>
Conservatives, on the other hand, only invoke personal liberties when it suits them, like when they don't want to pay taxes (schools, roads and national defense be damned). Most do not have an objective political framework. Rather, they look how they personally benefit and decide whether or not they like a policy. If it doesn't help them then they don't like it, even if it helps the nation. This is why conservatives aren't really all that patriotic. They always put themselves before the national good.

Will always remember Pleasantville not for the unique and incredible vision but for the camera operator who died on the way home from shooting, exhausted after several 19 hour days in a row.
Screened it at the DGA theater. Someone from the film (don't recall the name) talked about the issue. We had a momnet of silence, then screened the camera operator's work.
Rules for directors and producers changed as a result of that film to keep above the line from killing below the line.

I consider them more of re-imaginings than straight up remakes, which I don't have as much of an issue with. From what I hear, even from some Talkbackers here, Let Me in is almost scene for scene exactly like the original. This leads me to believe that the filmmakers knew that the original was great and that they didn't want to stray to far from it, but sought to cash in on its success. Fortunately, the American public wasn't buying into it.

Aaaaand... ordered. Harry, extend an olive branch to Best Buy, and maybe they'll scratch you off a little green to review their exclusive titles. That way you'll avoid the embarrassment of missing out on a fucking masterpiece like AF in the future.

Well, they kinda remade (500) Days with Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling and called it Blue Valentine. Damn but that movie kicked my ass. Have you seen it? Check it out, but definitely solo. This is not one you want to be sitting down with the wife/GF for.

This is not nearly Oscar worthy. It is pedestrian, with a glacial pace. The invasive score is annoying. The performances are uniformly excellent but the characters tempt the limits of passivity. I keep losing my way because daydreaming sets in. I understand Harry's empathy with the flick considering his recent past but for the rest of us, be forewarned. It's a bit of a yawner.

I saw the original quite a while ago, so although there are some scenes that are almost identically staged (climbing the hospital wall, for example), Reeves retained the feeling of the original, while added bits and pieces of his own. I don't recall the Romeo and Juliet subtext. The use of the perfectly named candy Now AND Later. Finding the photos of her "father" as a young boy. The earlier mentioned car attack scene and eventual crash. That scene alone reminded me of Hitchcock (sp. Frenzy), when the killer is cornered and trapped, and your sense of empathy is directed toward the killer. Of course, how could you go wrong with Richard Jenkins.
And that brings up casting. The original Oskar, was cast by an actor who looked more like a punk bully, than someone picked on by bullies. I felt little sympathy for him. Kodi Smit-McPhee, so good in The Road, was perhaps a little too sweet faced, but you felt for his struggle at home and at school. And his slightly feminine features (big eyes, full lips - the bullies constant taunt, calling him a girl) helped blur the line between the sexuality of him and Abby (who also kept stating she was not a girl). It was never meant to be a sexual relationship, but two outcasts drawn together. That was depicted much subtler than the "crotch shot" in the original.
Is one better than the other? Its like two different flavors of ice cream. One may prefer one to the other, but they both taste great.

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN has no weakness.
You know why Harry praises LET ME IN so much? Because it was directed by Matt Reeves, who is one of the underlings of Jar Jar Abrams, who is Harry's real boss. Harry has to obey his master's voice absolutly. Woe Harry if he ever say anything less positive about any of the people from Team Abrams and their works.

Tell them, man, tell them.
And since you are so cool with LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, and i believe you do like horror movies, did you ever watched the norwegian slasher movie COLD PREY and it's sequel COLD PREY II? They are really good, two of the best slashers i ever seen, since ever. They ar enot very origina, but they are very well made by talented filmmakers, and it has one of the top best final girl ever in the genre. Since you are not aversed to foreign filmmaking, i can't recomend those movies enough. Check it out, man. Just, please, watch them in their original norwegain language with english subtitles, because the english dub is horrible!

Reeves once directed a movie starring David Schwimmer..so should we all burn our Friends DVDs? Ok..granted. I don't know anyone who actually owns any Friends DVDs, but..
Have you seen Let Me In? If you have and you hate it..fine. I found I liked the remake better than the original..may the earth open up and swallow me whole.

fkn hammer/axe! That's the loudest and most intimidating thing ever. Like hulk smashing a wall that's made of something hulk resistant. Just loud folks. Sounds absolutely like it's happening. Worth a rental for sure.

Just added Cold Prey to my Netflix instant. Gonna check that out. I dig foreign movies. But what is the deal on Netflix if anyone knows? I started watching Ip Man one night and it was dubbed. Resumed it later and it was NOT dubbed. What the hell?

Honored. And I haven't seen Let Me In, but heard it was great, even improving on the original in a couple of aspects. I can't imagine it being better than the original, but I'll check it out. Hell, even if it's half as good as Let the Right One In, it'll be pretty good.

I love that the only complaint people can conjure against Let The Right One In is CG cats (which honestly I barely noticed until talkbackers started whining endlessly about them).
I did not find the vampire nearly as scary in Let Me In, because Reeves has no understanding that what you don't see is scarier than what you do. Reeves has her growling and acting like a ravenous animal. His answer to the original is to heighten everything, and in the process he forgot what made the original great. Or maybe he never knew.
Let Me In is basically just a dumbed down version for people who don't like to think or read.

the waft of self important bullshit and the senseless loathing of a filmmaker who, ok..is not always brilliant, but is far from the worst working in sci-fi and genre films.
AssholeLives continues to nauseatingly stroke his little intellectual sausage...wasting oxygen when Abrams is clearly able to make entertaining films and is obviously not concerned with presenting self indulgent intellectual masturbation to the level Asshole desires.

I really look forward to Harry's reviews of the new movies coming out. Bought 'let me in', 'monsters' and 'never let me go' mainly due to Harry's reviews of them.
And those negative folks complaining about Harry's stream of consciousness while he writes the reviews really need to go somewhere else. I personally like to know the guy persuading me to buy cool movies is actually a human being. Isn't that what makes this website, ya know, 'cool'?

Firstly, is "MTV-ify" even a valid term any more?
They don't show music videos, so what does that even mean? To add the cast of Jersey shore to a project?
Anyway, back to my point: I'm sure they could have made the kids older, say Selena Gomez as "Abby" and Justin Bieber as "Owen", added a Goth-pop soundtrack, put in more sex and violence, and made a bundle on opening weekend.(While turning the film into total garbage).
Instead, the studio allowed Reeves to make a lovely American version of a book that had already been turned into a very good Swedish film.
Sadly, the general population that had never heard of the book/original film weren't drawn in since it wasn't "MTV-ized", and most people who knew how great the story was, turned their backs on the film before it was even released.

I don't have Nexflix in my coutnry. and evne if i did, i wouldn't rent movies form it. I prefer to go to my local video rental shop and browse. I love to hold the movie's case in my hand before i rent them. Besides, the counter girls are hot.

I do think you will like COLD PREY, both movies, 1 and 2. They are not orioginal movies per se. Everything you see in them, every plot turn, you ahve seen them many times before. but it's the presentation that makes the difference. And for once, the yougn victims are all likable people you feel sorry for their deaths. How many times have you see that in a slasher? Mostly, the slasher victims are asholes you can't wait to get a knife through their eye- sockets. Not so in this movies. Also, you will love the final girl. Sh'es everythign a final girl should be, and the actress plays the hell out of the role. they actually got a really talented (and mighty cute) actress for the final girl role.
I found this movies to be good fun, and added to the "exoticism" of it being norwegian movies set in snowy winter, it all adds to it's enjoyment.

At a time when American made horror films consist of remakes of 80's slasher flicks starring the latest cast or castoff of the CW, or has to add 3D to lure in the fast first weekend buck, we should applaud Let Me In for being a patient, serious, well made horror film.
BTW, the author, the AUTHOR, was impressed with Reeves adaptation and even liked Cloverfield because he felt it was an original take on an old genre. So LMI haters....take it up with the author, fuckwads.

Part of what makes LET THE RIGHT ONE IN so good is how un-hollywood it is. There is no way that a movie exactly like LET THE RIGHT ONE IN would be made in Holywood. They would get terribly scared by the freak outs from midwest america that it would eventually happen. Nobody in Holywood would even wanted to touch that movie.
What makes LET THE RIGHT ON IN so good is that it is not afraid to mess about with taboos. It's not jsut what it shows but what it implies. And then there's the fact that the movie embraces it's own ambiguity. No explanations, no suddent reveals, no last minute redemptions to godliness, none of that crap.
Can LET ME IN match that? Not in a thousand years. LET ME IN, will be, at best, the cliff notes of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN without the moral shock stuff. I'm not saying it will be a bad movie. I know it will be a well made movie, Matt Reeves showed his technical skills CLOVERFIELD quite well. But comparable and better then LET THE RIGHT ONE IN? That's a laugh!

Jar Jar Abrams made a very stupid shitty movie whose flaws are beyond obvious. That's part one. Part two, he sold it as the second coming of christ. Part three it was the mindless cock sucking that people WHO SHOULD KNOW BETTER did on him and the retard stupid movie he made. Part four was the insult he did with his movie on an already established franchise, which was known for it's intelligence, quality, and literary qualities, and turned it into a Michael Bay-type dumb ass stupid movie. Part five, and as it was not enough, Jar Jar Abrams turned it into another version of his own created FELICITY show, the egocentiral fuck.
Any of this reasons is enough to despise the fucker for life. Imagine what those five together do.
There is no way anybody who genuinaly loves cinema can endure and accept the bullshit Jar Jar Abrams. He's the second coming of Michael Bay.

but you're ready to shit all over it? Simply based on the fact that its a product of Hollywood? Because as we all know Hollywood only produces shit, right?
Many, MANY have said both LTROI and LMI can exist as fine examples of the same source material. Such lamebrain amateur hacks like Roger Ebert and Stephen King to name two. The idea of the same wine from different bottles...you've heard of it, no?

I don't know if you are agreeing with me, or you missed my point. I love Let Me In for exactly the reasons you state.
I have the Blu-Ray of both Let The right One In, and Let Me In. I also look forward to reading the original novel, as time permits.
I'm glad they didn't got the typical route, (not that i mind a good old 80's style slasher flick now and again, but most of them are a dime a dozen).
I just wish Let Me In would have gotten more support from the AICN community. (The same group that influenced me to seek out Let The Right One In).

I agree with some others here that the film comes nowhere close to living up to the hype.
There's basically about 5 minutes total worth of "monster" footage/action and the other 90 or so minutes is mediocre and utterly predictable drama between the two leads. And yeah, the immigration subtext is laid on with a heavy hand.
Even with all that, I wasn't having a real problem with the movie 'til the end when after being threatened by the Octolobster or whatever it's called and watching two of them make out in what's meant to be an almost "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind" style rhapsodic moment, the chick exclaims teary-eyed that she don't wanna go home. The only thing that could have saved that ending was if one of those giant fuckers suddenly dropped in and bit her head off.
If the director of this movie is going to have a heavy hand in the Godzilla remake, it's gonna suck badly.

i liked it quite a bit despite some cheesy dialog. i love the feeling of something huge lingering nearby but pretty much unseen until it kind of creeps in, better shit occupying its mind then tiny humans. like in The Mist when you see the massive monster walk in front of the truck. i love shit like that.
anyway i dug the look and vibe i got from the movie. and the monsters were simple and cool enough looking.
worth a rent.

I've never seen or heard anyone ever say J.J Abrams is the second coming or anything remotely close to that. In fact I didn't even think people really thought that highly of him. I personally didn't really like Star Trek very much but there's not really much to hate there either, so I can't possibly imagine how somehow could hold such an intense grudge about what's nothing more then just a light fluffy, but forgettable blockbuster movie.
Also I agree Let The Right One In was a masterpiece but that's no reason to hate the remake. It's a great story and an American Filmmaker wanted to retell it for an American audience. Even if tons of people had seen the original I still don't see a problem. And with all of the awful dreck made here I would think people would applaud an all around well-done movie like Let Me In, remake or not. Or perhaps we can continue getting gems like "The Roomate".

Here's what I said:
"Whoa, someone thought the original Oskar looked like a PUNK BULLY?
by d.vader
Where did you grow up? That kid was a total dweeb. Sympathetic, yes, but NO kid that skinny is a bully, holy crap."
It was a response to someone who thought Oskar LOOKED LIKE A BULLY and that the kid in the American remake was better suited for the part.
Take some time to read everyone's posts before you jump to wrong conclusions.

You claim that you are a long time trekkie and you loved Abrams's Trek? I find it hard to believe. I don't believe it. I don't. How can a trekkie, who knows his Star Trek inside out, could ever be cool with the bastardization and dumbification that Abrams and his two writing colaborators did? How can you have failed to noticed that?
BNo, man, i don't believe in that long time trekkie thing. Unless you are one of those trekkies who think that if you get into the Abrams bangwagon you will score some manstream pussy. "Yeah, baby, i liked this new Star -Trek movie too? You mainstream girl you lçiked it too, yeah? Yeah! We have so much in common, don't we? Can i come with you to your house?" Well, dude, if that is your strategy, desist, the mainstream pussy will not come your way just because you decided to go with the Abrams Trek dreck. It will not work. You better keep on the trekkie trek, and hope that one day you will find some hot trekkie nerd chick Jolene Blalock. They exist, you just have to look it up.
Otherwise, it's a complete betrayal of all that Star Trek upholds your love and enjoyment of Jar Jar Abrams' BETRAYAL TREK bullshit. One doesn't need to be a trekkie to udnerstand what a betrayal and mockery his so called Trek movie is.

"Who claims J.J is the second coming?"
Are you very new to AICN? Or to America? Because when Jar Jar Abrams's FRAUD TREK was release, everybody went on their knees and suck the cock and swallowed the cum of Jar Jar Abrams and hailed him as god and savior, the only THE ONE who was capable of bring Star Trek back to the starving millions. It was hardcore pornographic. I have never seen such disgusting mindless brainless blind devotion before outside of a TV evangelical congregation con show.

bash woody Allen for never having bothered to even use sound design in any of his films. No surround on any movie. His insistence on a flat mono soundstage for each and every movie does absolutely nothing but diminish the experience. Hearing live dialogue at a play is much more involving than his flat, rangeless shit audio. Sorry Woody. You have an entire body of work with easily the go-to worst audio examples from any era you've made films in. Care to even try and defend these decisions? Seriously what could you say? Your intention was to strip people of every contrivance a movie can add to a narrative?

So the last time you think Trek was good was 1979? I think that's basically my feeling: it's been a long fucking time since Trek was good.
I liked Wrath of Khan, Undiscovered Country, and DS9. Everything else was an episodic, reset button mashing, socialist pajama party with sterile action and acting, with characters that were more archetypes than "real" people. Social agendas from only one side of the social spectrum are preached, and the laws of physics are broken to make sure the plot upholds the social science. I think that mentality permeates certain fields of real science nowadays. Thanks Star Trek. Is this just a hatefest on the Left by me? I would be just as pissed off if it were a neocon shit fest also, I just can't prove it because there's never been a Neocon sci fi series.
But I digress... here's what makes Trek a fucking wank fest for Left Coast socialists:
Picard and the feds would rather see genocide than interfere with a species. God forbid. Why? Because the ideology behind the Prime Directive is more important than preserving intelligent life. Fuck that. And fuck the idea that giving people replicators or other valuable tech is evil because, "They aren't ready, and they aren't evolved yet like us." Yeah right. They base that whole fucking premise on human history, which has been a history of struggles over a scarcity of resources. With replicators there are no scarce resources.
And the aliens. Fuck the aliens. Ferringi? Comes from the Arabic "faranj," meaning greedy western capitalists. They were intended to be the arch rival of the federation, but they were so one-dimensional and so unrealistically evil (in order to be defeated by the socialist ideology of Star Trek) that they sucked and no one liked them until DS9. Hence the Romulans and Borg had to be made the arch enemies.
Then we have Klingons... Worf was always the close-minded primitive who was being house broken by his human betters. Once again DS9 had to come along and add depth the to Klingons.
Now for J.J. Trek. I think so many people fucking hate it because it lacked all of this moral superiority socialist bullshit. Was it smart sci fi? No... but then again, it wasn't there to preach a failed 19th century doctrine of socio-economics.

I liked "Let the Right One In" & "Let Me In." Why are people so bent out of shape about this remake? For all the shitty remakes & reboots we got one that was good & no one supported it. Even the writer of the novel on which both films were based said he loved the remake. I'm sorry but Richard Jenkins was 100 times better in the role of the "father" than Per Ragnar. I also thought that the bullying subplot in the remake was more horrifying than in the original. And you cannot tell me that in the realm of remakes that this was worse than Tim Burton's "Planet of the Apes," Gus Van Sant's "Psycho" or fucking "Swept Away."